A Role Playing Games Blog
Ask The Readers
Ask The Stargazer!
1October 31, 2011
For a while now I have been thinking about starting a new hopefully regular feature on Stargazer’s World called “Ask The Stargazer!”.
So what’s the idea behind this new feature? You can send in your questions and the team of Stargazer’s World will try to answer them to the best of their abilities. You have a question about an existing or upcoming Stargazer Games product? Ask away! You want to know what we think about a recent development in the RPG industry? Send in your questions. You always wanted to know what we think about game X? Send us an email.
Of course this will only work with your help. So please think about what you want to know and send your questions to askthestargazer@stargazersworld.com! Please note that it may take a while until we publish our first “Ask The Stargazer!” post here. And if it’s possible try to keep questions short and to the point.
So what are you waiting for you? Send us your questions!
Character Concepts: The old hero…
8October 19, 2011
Just as I am more of a lover than a fighter (and no I’m not giving you any references so you can confirm this, you better take my word for it), I am more of a Game Master than a Player. I’ve spoken about this before, but it boils down to the fact that I actually enjoy telling the story, weaving a yarn along with my players, more than being just one of the protagonists. It was the very first thing I did when I role-played and I fell in love with it from the very first time.
That being said I have enjoyed sitting on the other side of the screen form time to time. Since I usually talk about being a GM I thought it would be nice to turn the table and talk about being a player for a change. This is not a post about an NPC (although you could certainly turn him into one) but an actual character concept I developed for a game.
One caveat, I remember the character concept but the exact moment it materialized is lost in time. I recall the concept, not all the fiddly bits of how it germinated, so I apologize to my friend Luis who was there when the concept emerged if I mix up the memories. This is the story how I remember it.
Long drives and Podcasts…
2October 18, 2011
Podcasts and me, it’s a relatively new affair. Despite being an avid radio listener (and I listen to AM talk radio so I’m used to the crazies! Mind you AM radio is different from what I gather it’s like in the US, there are still lots of character but different political views seem better represented) I didn’t make the transition to podcasts until recently. That doesn’t mean I was unaware of them, just not interested.
Before I had a smart phone I had downloaded and listened to the odd podcast, mainly something featured in an internet post, and the first gaming podcast I ever listened to was Fear the Boot and it was their first Ryan Dancey interview. I downloaded a few more episodes, but listening to them on the laptop didn’t work for me, I always had something else to listen to. When I got my smart phone I began to explore the podcasting options out there.
The first one that really got me was The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack. I was really into it for a while, but with the bad taste the end of the series left in my mouth (let this be a lesson to you, never lick your TV, no matter how good the series is!) I quickly stopped listening, they have some other themed podcasts but they never caught my fancy.
Then I dipped my toe into gaming podcasts when I joined a gym and once again began to listen to Fear the Boot. Alas going to the gym didn’t last too long, and neither did my podcast listening days! Flash-forward a couple of years and in the middle of the hectic year I’m having podcasts have made it back into my life.
The first tentative steps were taken with This Just In… From Gen Con. But recently I’ve been traveling a lot for work, spending almost two hours on the road (yeah it’s a LOT to me, that’s island living for you!) every day; after a couple of days talk radio seemed to be regurgitating the same topics so I decided to dive back into podcasts, and I am so glad I did.
Since I’ve been writing for the blog I’ve discovered many fine podcasts and through the blog and social media I have been lucky enough to interact with some of the fine podcasters out there. In a way it’s a different perspective…. So what have I been listening to? Glad you asked!
Ask the Readers: What’s your favorite Call of Cthulhu adventure?
9September 26, 2011
On Saturday I have started making plans for New Year’s Eve. Like in the years before a few friends will come over, we will have good food and do some roleplaying. This year we decided that I should run Call of Cthulhu. Some time ago I had some ideas for creating my own CoC campaign set into the Cold War era, but this would definitely beyond the scope of a one-shot New Year’s Eve game.
That’s why I am asking for your help. What is your favorite Call of Cthulhu adventure and – more importantly – why? Can it be run in a single session? Is it still available for purchase and if so where? Especially a lot of the older Chaosium titles have been out of print for quite a while. If the adventure in question is available at RPGNow it would be a big plus.
By the way, are the Age of Cthulhu adventures by Goodman Games any good?
Caught unaware…
7September 6, 2011
I am not a closet gamer! By that I mean I do not hide my love for role-playing games. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you know I regularly post about RPGs and other assorted geek interests. I actively support my local gaming community as much as I can. Heck I blog about it!
People around me know about role-playing. Coworkers and acquaintances know that I play “the game” on Tuesdays and know about the “geek picnics” I get involved in periodically. I talk about RPGs to my non-gaming friends (which there are not many of since most of my friends actively game or have gamed with me at some point in their life) when they ask about it. I am not pushy and try not to force my hobby on the uninterested.
Ask the Readers: One campaign, several GMs
9August 19, 2011
Regularly I hear or read about campaigns in which the gamemaster is not a permanent position held by just one person, but everyone from the group takes on the GM’s mantle from time to time. For a lot of people that even seems to be the traditional way to do it.
Since I started playing pen & paper roleplaying games in the early ‘90s I’ve participated in a lot of campaigns. And usually a campaign has one dedicated GM and when another person wants to run a game we then switch to a new campaign. I don’t think it has happened that often that someone took over another GM’s campaign. For some reason it just doesn’t feel right to mess with other people’s worlds.
As regular readers of this blog you will probably have noticed that I have been reading a lot of narrativist games recently. What a lot of this games have in common is that the players usually have much more influence on the world and how the story evolves than in more traditional games, like D&D for example. The gamemaster has to give up a good amount of control already, so why am I bothered by the idea of several GMs in charge of a single campaign.
One thing I am definitely not too fond of are gamemaster characters. I am talking about those special NPCs of a GM that are run as if they were player characters. More often than not these NPCs steal the show from the players and ruin the game for everyone. When someone who is not the regular GM takes over, their player character may become such a special NPC.
So, what are you thoughts on this subject? Is it ok for you when several people share the position of the GM from time to time. Or is this something you avoid like the plague? Please let your voices be heard in the comments below!
Starblazer Adventures meets the Mass Effect Universe
6July 26, 2011
Some time ago I wrote about my plans to run a Starblazer Adventures game. As always things didn’t went as planned and I had to reschedule. But at least our RPG pub meeting on Thursday was a huge success. I introduced the regulars to the FATE roleplaying game system in general and Starblazer Adventures in particular, and two more players decided they want to give it a try.
So my group grew from 3 to 5 players and when talking about what kind of campaign setting they wanted to play in, we finally settled on a Mass Effect campaign. In my opinion Mass Effect fits SBA’s style perfectly. The only thing I have to do is add some rules for Mass Effect’s tech and biotics powers. But I am sure I can come up with a couple of skills and stunts during this week, so we can finally start with character creation next week or so.
You have a question about an existing or upcoming Stargazer Games product? Ask away! You want to know what we think about a recent development in the RPG industry? Send in your questions. You always wanted to know what we think about game X? Send us an email.
